Monday, November 14, 2011

A Tribute to Hooptie with Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

Remember our hooptie? It was a bit of an (okay, a huge) eyesore but it did what we needed it to do. That is, get us from point A to point B. Albeit slowly. And while making strange noises along the way. Oh, and winning us strange looks from onlookers. But bottom line, the hooptie served its purpose.

We deluded ourselves into thinking this would always be the case. And of course, we were wrong. The hooptie flipped us the bird at the most inopportune time possible. But then again, that's almost poetic given the hooptie's history.

Last week, I loaded up the car to go to Target. This sounds much easier said than done. See these days, it takes us an hour and forty five minutes to get ready to go anywhere. You think I'm kidding? Try feeding a baby, burping a baby, changing a baby, packing said baby's diaper bag, finding out the baby is still hungry, repeating one, two, and three, and finally, putting the baby in his car seat. Oh, and somewhere in that lineup, I checked myself out while passing a mirror and decided that not-so-attractive track pants with a small hole on the knee and a bleach spot on the ankle and big poufy hair tied with a pink sparkly scrunchy was perfectly fine for going out. By the time I loaded everyone and everything in the car, I'd almost convinced myself I didn't really need to go out.

But I adjusted the rear view mirror and plastered a smile on my face because gosh darn it, having a baby wasn't going to prevent me from going to Target (my happy place). And so, I turned the key, and at that precise moment, the hooptie made a gurgling, dying noise, and I realized I wasn't going to Target after all.

At that point, there was nothing left to do but admit defeat. Well, that and make cookies. These uber chocolatey cookies with mint chips won't change your baby's diaper. They won't unpack your carefully packed car. They won't run your errands for you. And they certainly won't get your hooptie working again. But they will make you laugh about the diaper blowouts, the spitups, and that ever-present pink scrunchy. And that's almost as good as going to Target.

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Oh I remember those days of diaper changes (yuck) , packing up baby things and so...so... many things to do before going out , and boy it was tough and I really feel for you when the car didn't start and at the same time , reading about your adventure really cracked me up . Keep them coming , really missed reading them . The cookies look great but not a big fan of mint flavour .

Bless you, Azmina. I remember those days and you've done such a wonderful job of making me happy that they're long behind me. I remember looking at myself in the mirror and deciding that if the spit-up on my shoulder could be hidden by my hair, it was ok to go out.

Hubby and Dudette would go crazy over these cookies, Hooptie or no. They look fantastic. I've been looking for the mint chips but they haven't hit over here yet. First time I've wished for a Christmas thing before Thanksgiving!

Thx for stopping by my blog & your sweet comment. Glad you did b/c now I have discovered your wonderful blog! These cookies look great...very tempting! I usually avoid baking cookies b/c I can't stop myself from eating them :) Now following your blog!

I think Target's website offers free shipping if you spend $50! It was so good to meet you at the FoodBuzz festival. I hope we can stay in touch. I recently figured out how the whole "follow" thing works on blog (yes, I am a total newbie to the personal blogging world!), so I'll follow your blog for more food and baby-related adventures :)

I'm never going to find mint chips in India... never! sigh... the cookies look so funky with those bits of bright green peeking out!! and aaah... the poor hooptie! oops sorry, poor you i meant! :) i have a feeling our SUV that got stolen and came back a hooptie is soon going to sputter and die on us one of these days... God. better note down this cookie recipe and go hunt for mint chips!!